How to Deal with Horcruxes
by daily-chan
Summary: Sirius and Remus set out to find and destroy the Horcruxes. Or better said: Dumbledore, pay attention! Sirius and Remus show how it is truly done, Marauder style. Part of the A Bond of Family series.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters._ _However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason._

 _Warnings:_ _Strong bromance, can't stomach men being extremely close without it being sexual, then this is not the story for you and you should hit the return button. And_ _perhaps some language use._

 _Summary: Sirius and Remus set out to find and destroy the Horcruxes. Or better said: Dumbledore, pay attention! Sirius and Remus show how it is truly done, Marauder style._

 _ **Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story for me and giving me endless support and inspiration for this series. Thank you for your endless patience with my grammar and for all the lessons you've taught me and are still trying to stamp into my brain. Also, thank you for helping me with the summary and title, you´re the best!**_

 _This story waves through several other stories in the series, but does not truly spoil anything for those and can be read alone without knowing the others._

 _It plays after Secret Lessons and spins through the events of Home, Nightly Conversations and A Not So Ordinary Day but ends before Taking Control takes place. Each chapter will indicate with which events they cross paths._

chapter 1

"Wait...go back for a moment. You think Voldemort made what?"

"Horcruxes, as in plural," Remus could hear the exhaustion in his best friend's voice, even without being able to see his pale face in the darkened small hand-sized mirror properly due to the darkness in the cave Sirius was contacting him from.

"What are Horcruxes?" The name rang no bell to him, but from Sirius' tone he could tell it was bad.

"To be very short, it's an object in which a Dark wizard hides a fragment of their own soul to attain immortality, basically splitting it apart. I'm not entirely sure how one is made other than that it requires a murder and you need a spell."

"And you think Voldemort made more than one of those?" Remus asked alarmed.

"Yeah, I have a hunch as to how many, but I think Slughorn might know the answer and that's why I would like for you to visit him," Sirius shifted on the ground, leaning more against a sleeping Buckbeak, the mirror catching the sliver of light that fell into the cage and Remus frowned at how exhausted the other man looked.

"Why Slughorn though? I know the man was a slimy benefiter, but he didn't support the Death Eaters and wouldn't have supported such an action," he forced himself to stay on topic and not voice his worry about the other's health.

"No, but he is the only source Riddle could have used to confirm his research and ask questions of. I already discovered Bullock's book was in the restricted area back in his school years, it wasn't removed until the fifties..."

"Wait, Bullock's book? There's a book that describes how to make those things?" Remus shivered in disgust.

"Yes, Secrets of the Darkest Arts. It is a book of medieval origin and describes various dark rituals in great detail. I've been forced to read it as a child, it was a horrible book."

"And it used to be in the restricted area? How do you know?" Remus asked as he brewed himself a cup of coffee, both to help keep him awake and because he had a feeling he'd need it.

"Moky told me, she had been ordered to bring the book to Dumbledore after a student asked questions about the subject."

"A house-elf? How does she remember after all that time?"

"Moky remembers because the book reeked of darkness, she showed me the memory to confirm it was indeed that book. It's been in Dumbledore's chambers since then and has been charmed against being taken without his permission."

"So you think Voldemort read all he needed to know in that book?" Remus knew Sirius would have tried to get his hands on the book already and had clearly failed so he didn't bother to ask.

"Yes," Sirius confirmed as he shifted again, clearly trying to get comfortable on the hard floor.

"Then why would he need to talk to Slughorn?"

"I don't know, I just know that Moky's daughter overheard part of the conversation between him and Slughorn about the subject and that she asked her mother what seven Horcruxes would do to a person."

"Seven?!" Remus choked on the sip of coffee he'd just taken, coughing harshly as the hot liquid shot down his windpipe.

"Are you all right?" Sirius glanced into the mirror he had rested against his legs so that he wouldn't have to keep his arms raised to be able to look at him.

"Yeah, sorry. What else did Moky's daughter say about the conversation?"

"Nothing, the little elf was very unwell and didn't live long after that. That's why I need to know exactly what Slughorn and Riddle discussed," Sirius answered once he was sure Remus was done coughing.

"And Slughorn is the only one who has that information," Remus understood why his friend wanted him to go to their old Potions professor as he could hardly go himself.

"But you haven't told me what makes you assume he's actually gone through with it. Splitting your soul sounds risky, even when searching for immortality."

"I know, but do you remember what people said about Riddle? How his appearance changed so drastically over the years? I spoke to Peeves and he confirmed that Riddle's features changed a lot for no clear reason and that a Horcrux could indeed be a reason for that."

"Peeves knows what Horcruxes are?" Remus took a new sip from his coffee, taking care to swallow before asking his question.

"He's very old, Rem, and knows more about magic than most think. He doesn't know how to destroy one, but he knows what it does to the maker and believes it could be the cause in Riddle's case."

"All right, I'll take his word for it. So say I get the truth out of Slughorn and he confirms there are indeed seven, how would we discover what they are?"

"I have my suspicions about some, but I'm still researching that," Sirius admitted. "I know one was destroyed already, though."

"By whom?" surprised Remus returned his empty cup to the table.

"Harry. He told me about what happened in his second year..."

"With the Chamber of Secrets, I heard the stories while I was teaching," Remus frowned, not having been happy to learn a twelve year old had faced a Basilisk. "You think the Basilisk was a Horcrux?"

"No, I think the Diary was. From what Harry described, I'm ninety-nine percent certain it was a Horcrux. It's what got me investigating further into the subject. Because if Voldemort has Horcruxes, no one would be able to kill him."

"So they need to be destroyed as it would fit your suspicion that the bastard's not truly gone and won't be as long as these Horcruxes are there. And you have a hunch about the others?" Remus asked.

"Yes, but I'm fairly certain about one of them," Sirius admitted. "I'll need to do some more research, but it will have to wait until after the Triwizard Tournament has ended. I don't want to be too far away with the third task only a few days away."

"It's the twenty-fourth, right? Is Harry ready?"

"As ready as anyone can be. We've been meeting a couple of times in the Room of Requirement now and he's got all the spells I could think of down. I taught him a bit of duelling just in case he runs into trouble."

"Knowing his luck, there's a good chance of that. I've been meaning to ask though, why didn't you just stay there? You would be safe in there, wouldn't you be?"

"I've thought about it, but the room doesn't have access to the books I need, so I've been searching in Hogsmeade and that would be difficult if I stayed at the castle."

"Found anything?" Remus didn't think he had and wasn't disappointed when Sirius shrugged.

"Not really, that is why I need you to go to Slughorn. I need to see that memory to get more clues; maybe there is some hint to others that Riddle was too arrogant to hide."

"And what do you plan to do while I visit Slughorn?" Remus knew his friend well enough to be able to tell when the other had some sort of plan formed.

"I'll be going to the one place I know has all the answers I am looking for."

"What place would have...you can't be seriously considering going back there!" Remus exclaimed as he realised which place Sirius was talking about.

"Do you have a better idea?" Sirius looked resigned, like he'd known Remus would argue and he did.

"Any idea is better than that one! After all that's happened there, what almost happened..." Remus trailed off, swallowing thickly as he remembered the sight of his best friend´s still bruised body after that Christmas holiday.

"I don't have another choice..."

"There is always a choice, Sirius. What reason could possibly be good enough to return to that hellhole?"

Sirius paused, visibly debating with himself for a long moment.

"Can I count on you to keep all of this between us?"

"Of course," Remus frowned.

"I mean it, Remus, Dumbledore can't know about this or he'll try to stop me."

"I solemnly swear that I will not share a word of what's being said between us," Remus vowed without hesitation and the old vow seemed to be enough for his dearest friend, just like it always was.

"I believe Harry is a Horcrux."

"What?!" whatever Remus had been expecting, it hadn't been that and he stared at Sirius in the mirror in shock as the other's expression tightened.

"Think about it, he's got those nightmares and headaches. He can sense it when Voldemort is nearby and he's a Parselmouth."

"Harry's a Parselmouth?" Remus blinked surprised at that information. "Since when?"

"He's known since the summer before starting at Hogwarts that he could talk to snakes. Yet we both know he was bitten by one when he was a toddler. Parselmouths are not attacked by snakes, not unless they are controlled by either another Parselmouth or magic."

"By Merlin...how...where...you think it's in the scar? Voldemort made a Horcrux out of him when..." Remus put the pieces together.

"Yes," Sirius confirmed and Remus cursed. "Although I am not convinced he made one out of him on purpose. It would be both stupid and risky to use a living creature as a vessel for one and from what we know about what happened that night, it might have been what destroyed him in the end."

"What do you mean? I thought Lily sacrificed herself for Harry and that was what destroyed Voldemort?" Remus asked.

"It doesn't fit. Even if Lily used blood magic to protect Harry, it wouldn't destroy a body the way it did. But if Voldemort made multiple Horcruxes, then his soul and body would have been unstable and the act of trying to kill an innocent, blood magic protected child would backfire on him."

"You mean..."

"I think that what was left of his soul was ripped into two when he tried to kill Harry, destroying his already unstable body and causing part of his ripped soul to latch onto the only living creature nearby, Harry, nestling in the wound where the Killing Curse hit and rebound."

"And the rest of his soul, the main part?" Remus was horrified by what he was hearing.

"Harry told me that Voldemort's face was visible on the back of Quirrell's head, like a possession. And that it turned into a ghostly shade when fleeing. So I believe he's been reduced to a shade or ghostly form after his soul was split."

"What are you not telling me?" Remus' eyes narrowed as Sirius bit his lip.

"A nightmare Harry told me about last summer. He said Voldemort had a rudimentary body and that he fed on venom in his nightmare."

"And that means something to you?"

"Well...I vaguely recall reading about a ritual that restores a body in that way. It requires one to drink a combination of unicorn blood and snake venom to sustain that form. I didn't think much of it when Harry first told me about the nightmare, until I remembered that Harry said Voldemort, while possessing Quirrell, drank unicorn blood."

"Which is needed for that ritual? You think he is trying to restore his body?" Remus asked sharply.

"I doubt that is anything new, but something he'd not succeed in alone. But if Harry's right and Wormtail is at his side, it could be possible he's working on a way to regain human form."

"And it couldn't have been just a nightmare?" Remus tried, hoping against his better judgement it was just that.

"Not if Harry is indeed carrying a Horcrux."

"Can you destroy it without harm coming to him?"

"That is what I need Grimmauld Place for. It is where I first learned of their existence and I know there are more dark books there than anywhere else. If there is an answer, that is where I have to look."

"And the residents? Do you really intent to walk in there while that...that..."

"Walburga Black died many years ago and my grandfather passed away three years ago. I'm the last Black left."

"Good riddance," Remus grumbled and Sirius smiled faintly. Remus debated with himself for a moment as he knew Sirius would go there regardless of what he might want. For Harry he'd walk through fire and nothing Remus did or said would stop him, not that he would even attempt to do so. "All right, but I'm going with you."

"Remus?" Sirius blinked, surprised at his words.

"James would be livid with me in the afterlife if I let you step foot into that hellhole and I'd never forgive myself if I let you do so alone," he nodded to himself. "I'll pay Slughorn a visit before the end of the week and then we'll go to Grimmauld Place together."

"I'll wait for you then," Sirius accepted his clear request without argument. "Be on your guard with Slughorn though."

"I will be. Do you have any excuse for me to go see him?"

"Tell him you are making a scrapbook for Harry and are looking for pictures of Lily. He's bound to have several from his club meetings."

"Good thinking, what is it?" Remus tensed as Sirius glanced up abruptly.

But he relaxed as the man gave a small smile and a nod to whatever he'd caught sight of.

"Dobby's here so I have to go."

"All right, tell him and Harry hi for me and be careful."

"You too, oh, and Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

With a nod, Remus ended the connection.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Visiting Slughorn turned out to be relatively easy. Sirius' excuse worked perfectly and Remus talked the man into sharing some stories behind the photos while enjoying a drink and it didn't take long for the man to be drunk enough to take the memory from him without a problem.

Remus had to swallow thickly as Sirius' Intel had been right and he left quickly afterwards, erasing the action from the man's mind after a brief hesitation and leaving a note to thank him for the photos.

As he Apparated home, he felt his mirror vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket with a smile.

"Sirius, you were right..."

"Voldemort is back," Sirius cut him off immediately.

"What? How?" Remus' heart clenched.

Even though Sirius had already alerted him that was what the man seemed to be trying, it was still a shock and he had hoped to never to see it happen in his life.

"Wormtail and Barty Crouch Junior," the anger in Sirius' eyes was unmistakable and Remus cursed mentally at the knowledge their old friend had indeed been involved in bringing that horrible monster back.

"I thought Barty Crouch died in Azkaban," Remus frowned as he focused on the other part his last remaining friend had said.

"So did I, it's kind of a long story but to be short it turns out that his mother and he switched places and Crouch Senior kept him hidden but was overpowered and put under the Imperius Curse by Wormtail in the end. Crouch Junior surprised Moody and took him hostage to be able to impersonate him and put Harry's name in the Goblet so that he could get Harry to Wormtail. The rat used Harry's blood in a resurrection ritual."

Remus had no doubt that if that was the short version, the long version was much more complicated and horrific, but he pushed it aside as he tried to combine what he already knew and was now learning.

"So the protection Lily left on Harry..."

"Is gone because Voldemort now shares his blood," Sirius looked weary and tired all of a sudden.

"Damn. Harry?"

"Shaken but alive. He got away despite the presence of several Death Eaters and a newly resurrected Voldemort; brought the dead body of another student, Cedric I think his name was, back with him."

"Cedric was a good kid," Remus rubbed a hand over his face, pondering over the unfairness of it all.

While he mourned the death of a young man, he couldn't help but be relieved James' son had survived. He hadn't had much communication with the boy since leaving Hogwarts, but he made sure to keep in touch and had grown closer to the teenager as a result. "What happens now?"

"Dumbledore wants me to find the old crowd and alert them about the situation."

"What? That would be suicide!" Remus exclaimed outraged. "What is Dumbledore thinking?!"

Remus couldn't believe the man would send Sirius to contact a bunch of highly skilled duellists, all whom believed him to be a traitor and a murderer. It would get his best friend killed, especially as the other's wandless magic wasn't as strong as it had been and he was wandless.

"Yes, I wondered about that, too. That is why I have to ask for your help once more. Not only because of the suicide rate of that mission, but also because I'm not willing to leave Harry, not tonight."

"Of course, I'll warn the old members still alive while you stay there. How's he holding up?" Remus asked, putting the memory he'd collected safely away and looking up the addresses he'd need.

"Hurt, traumatized and scared. He watched Wormtail kill Cedric right before his eyes and apparently duelled with Voldemort."

"Good thing you taught him some duelling in your meetings," Remus breathed out relieved, well aware that it had probably saved the kid's life.

"That and he's got the luck of a billion Felix Felicis. I swear the kid's got both the worst luck and a battalion of guardian angels on his shoulder at the same time with all he's seen. But despite everything, he's holding his own, too well for what happened today."

"Yes, he is much older in spirit than he should be," Remus agreed as he refreshed his memory of the addresses he'd need to Apparate to.

"What are you doing?" Sirius frowned.

"I'm looking up the addresses of where they all live so I can Apparate there."

"Why? Your memory isn't that bad, is it?"

"No, but I've not seen most of them for years and can't remember where they all live, so I'm refreshing my memory," Remus turned more pages in his address book as he sought the last address he'd need.

"Why haven't you...please tell me you didn't throw yourself in solitude all those years," Remus could hear in Sirius' voice that he already knew the answer so he simply shrugged.

"I didn't want anyone close, not after all that happened."

"I know, I just wish you'd at least stayed in touch with some of them. But from the amount of pages you've been turning I can see you haven't. Are you sure you'll be all right, going to see them all?" the worry in his voice made Remus smile.

"I'll be fine. More importantly though, how are you going to return to Harry's side unnoticed?"

"I've asked Dobby to get me into Gryffindor Tower so that I could pick up James' invisibility cloak and place some protective spells on Harry's possessions. It is not much, but it might just keep him safe now that his strongest protection has failed. I borrowed Harry's wand for the moment so that I could do so, he'll have been given the rest of the sleeping potion when I left so I assume I have about half an hour left before he wakes again," Sirius let him change the subject.

"He can shake of the Dreamless Sleep Draught?"Remus asked surprised.

"Yes, though I think it has more to do with a lousily brewed potion than his own stubbornness. It didn't smell very strong when Madam Pomfrey uncorked it."

"Right. You better make sure you are there when he wakes up again, then. He'll need you," Remus nodded, frowning as he spotted several house-elves in the background. "Where are you now?"

"The kitchens. Figured I should pick up something light for him to eat for when he wakes up. I have no doubt that he was too nervous to eat much before the task and will need to eat something when he wakes up again, even if he's not hungry."

"Make sure to take along some chocolate too, it'll help after such a traumatic experience," Remus advised.

"Already have four bars and two cans of hot chocolate in my bag," Sirius smiled faintly. "I remember their healing use well, Moony."

"I know," Remus smiled despite the topic of conversation and glanced at the last address. "I'll be going to Dung first; he's the easiest to locate at this time of night. I assume our previous plans will be delayed even though I have retrieved what you asked of me?"

"No, I need to hurry more than ever now to both discover the others and find out how to destroy them. Dumbledore wants me to lay low at your place once the others are warned, so I'll come to you as soon as I'm sure Harry will be all right. Good work at getting it so quickly, though."

"What are you thinking of doing?" Remus wondered at the thoughtful expression on his best friend's face that meant he was formulating a plan.

"I'm thinking that the Order will need a meeting place. I'll need time to search the Black library, even if you're helping me. If we can get everyone to gather at that hell-hole, it would be easier to spend every free moment searching."

"You're thinking of offering the house as Headquarters?" Remus deduced the younger man's thought pattern. "You'd be stuck there as Dumbledore wouldn't let you leave out of so called safety reasons."

"I'm aware, but it would be the easiest solution and I can work around Dumbledore's wishes. The place is secure and with a little luck, I'll be able to get Harry there soon, too. Dumbledore won't be able to deny he'd be safer there than anywhere else – no, he's not too fond of Chocolate Frogs, Pippy. He thinks they are weird, but thanks," Sirius directed the last part to whatever house-elf had caught his eye.

"I should leave you to it," Remus smiled faintly at the familiar sight of Sirius interacting with the house-elves, missing the elf in question's reply. "We'll suggest the place to Dumbledore when he contacts us here, and if he accepts I'll think up a reason as to why I need to stay with you."

"You're worried I'll lose what sanity I have left if I'm left there on my own and refuse to let me stay there alone, James would never forgive you if you did. And just to be thorough, I'll ask you to keep me company between the missions he will no doubt want to send you on again, in his presence so he can't argue."

"That would work," Remus nodded, smiling as a peculiar house-elf, wearing half a dozen woollen hats, drew near with a bag. "I think your ride is ready. You be careful and focus on Harry for now."

"I will, you be careful too. Keep me posted so I know you are safe."

"I'll leave messages so I won't disturb Harry's sleep, I'll see you soon."

Remus took a deep breath as Sirius ended the connection and stared at his own reflection in the small mirror, allowing his thoughts to wander to what had happened in the last war for a long moment before shaking his head to clear his mind.

He had people to warn who would be anything but happy with the news he'd bring.


	2. Chapter 2

The events in this chapter take place after Home but before Nightly Conversations.

chapter 2

Remus looked up from the book he was skimming through when Sirius walked over to him and placed a book open before him.

"See something familiar?"

Remus let his tired eyes slide over the photo Sirius indicted, frowning as he saw a family of three he didn't recognise.

"Who are they?"

"The Gaunts; the oldest pure-blood family in our history. Completely deranged and mentally unstable as they inbred even worse than the Blacks did."

"Never heard of them. Are there any members still left?" Remus rubbed his burning eyes tiredly, pushing the book away.

"Just one, thankfully. But first look at the picture and tell me what you see."

Remus glanced at Sirius' grin before turning his attention to the book Sirius slid back to him, smoothing the old page down to get a proper look at the photo.

"I don't know, Siri. I see an older man who looks mad and two children," he finally had to admit after staring at the photo for a few moments.

"What is the father wearing on his hand?"

"A ring? Sirius...just tell me what you are getting at," Remus leaned back in his chair.

"Doesn't that ring look familiar? Because it is the same ring Riddle wore during that memory," Sirius eventually took pity on him as he sat down beside him, facing him.

"You think it's a Horcrux?"

"Yes. Because, that man's name is Marvolo Gaunt and the girl in the picture is called Merope Riddle, nee Gaunt..." Sirius' grin grew as Remus abruptly sat upright.

"Riddle...that's Voldemort's _mother?"_ Remus stared at the photo more properly now. "This is...Voldemort's family?"

"Marvolo, Morfin and Merope Gaunt. I researched Voldemort's background while I was hiding, hoping to get a lead on more Horcruxes. His full name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"He's the last descendant of the Gaunts," Remus realised immediately.

"Yes. I discovered they used to live just outside of Little Hangleton and discovered quite the scandal. Turns out that the squire's son eloped with the local tramp's daughter, Merope Gaunt. But a few months later, he returned alone, claiming she had lied to him. Rumours have it that he left her while she was pregnant and she died shortly after giving birth."

"And the man's name?"

"Tom Riddle."

"Tom...Voldemort's father. You found his parents."

"Hmmm, I think he did too. Sixteen years after Tom Riddle's return, Morfin Gaunt was arrested for the murder of the elderly Riddles and their son. Upon his arrest he confessed proudly, but there's something he kept repeating at his arrest that I think is truly interesting to us."

"What did he say?" Remus let himself be moved by the excitement in Sirius' voice and a smile formed on his own face, too.

"That his father would kill him for losing his ring. The same ring Riddle was wearing in that memory, two weeks after the Riddle's murders."

"That can't be a coincidence. If your theory about him using significant objects is true, then it would certainly fit."

"I think it gets even better," Sirius' grin widened as he pointed to the girl, _Voldemort's mother,_ on the photo and Remus leaned forward to see the necklace she was wearing.

"It's rather ugly but I assume it's special?" Remus looked up to Sirius again.

"That is Salazar Slytherin's locket. Last known owner a woman named Hepzibah Smith in nineteen forty-six."

"I'm sure there's a reason you are telling me about her," Remus leaned back again, taking a sip from Sirius' firewhisky before holding it out to him so he'd take one, too.

"Well, Hepzibah was a hoarder of magical antiques and her most prized possessions were Helga Hufflepuff's cup and Salazar Slytherin's locket, but do you know what is funny?" Sirius asked after obeying his silent request, grimacing at the taste.

"Do tell," Remus looked at Sirius amused, enjoying watching his best friend's glee as the man's smile returned.

"She was friendly with an employee of Borgin and Burkes, a certain Tom Riddle, who last visited her a mere two days before her death, a so called accidental death at the hands of her old and forgetful house-elf. After her death, her relatives discovered that both the cup and the locket were stolen."

"Riddle stole them," Remus laughed as he realised they had the presumed identity of the last two Horcruxes and watched as Sirius wrote them down.

"So, we know for sure about the diadem, Riddle's diary and Harry. And suspect Marvolo's ring, Salazar's locket, Hufflepuff's cup and the snake?"

"That's seven. We'll be able to confirm them all once we've tested out the theory and located one," Sirius confirmed.

"Which you'll want to do after Harry's birthday, I assume," Remus smiled knowingly.

"It's only a two day delay. We already have the knowledge to be able to relocate them into ordinary objects and the spells required to destroy them."

Remus laughed as Sirius tried to justify waiting until after Harry's birthday and reached out to take his hand, pulling him to the kitchen so they could get refreshments, only pausing to allow Sirius to magically lock the library again so no one could get in.

"It'll be his first birthday with you, with us. I'm just as excited about having him here for it as you are and certainly don't mind waiting a few days longer to test out our theory just so we can celebrate his birthday with him," he commented as Sirius made them hot chocolate.

"His fifteenth birthday, Rem. And we actually get to spend it with him," the almost shy smile that spread over the younger Marauder's lips made Remus want to stop time just so that they'd be able to live that moment forever, but it passed when footsteps outside of the kitchen broke it and Sirius' smile changed as Fred poked his head around the corner.

"Sirius? We need some….oh…we didn't mean to interrupt," he trailed off as he spotted Remus.

"What happened this time?" Sirius motioned him in; Remus frowned as the second twin appeared with a bloodied towel held to his arm.

"An invention we're working on backfired," George winced as Sirius lifted the towel to inspect the damage, easily healing it once he'd seen it.

"Thanks. We tried to heal it ourselves, but we still can't quite get the spell you taught us right," Fred explained as Remus raised his eyebrow.

"Thought it would be better to ask for your help than to keep attempting ourselves," George sat down in the chair Remus pulled out for him while Sirius poured the chocolate out over four cups and magically prepared two sandwiches.

"No problem, I know you didn't lose a lot of blood, but I'm betting you are both fairly hungry after your nightly experiments," he winked as he placed the sandwiches before them and both red-heads flushed with a small smile.

"Mum would be pissed if she saw us eat this late," George smiled as he looked at the sandwich.

"You better eat up quickly then so she won't be able to tell," Sirius teased as he sat down beside them.

"You're not going to demand to know what we were doing?" Fred glanced at Remus.

"Should we?" Remus raised an eyebrow. "The way I see it, you are both adults and know what you are doing."

"Besides, we are not your parents. So as long as no damage is done to my property and no serious injuries occur to either of you, it is none of our business what you were doing," Sirius winked.

"It won't be long now before we've figured it out," Fred grinned as Sirius folded the cleaned towel and placed it before him.

"Just as long as you don't take those bombs near me, I'm fine," Sirius smiled.

"Do I want to know?"Remus asked.

"Better not to ask so you can feign ignorance when their mother might discovers them," Sirius sat down beside George.

Remus watched them for a moment but it wasn't until the two tucked into their sandwiches that he began to suspect they hadn't needed help at all.

Watching them discuss a Charms assignment with Sirius, he was surprised by how relaxed they were.

He had originally thought the two were nervous to be around Sirius, but he realised now that nothing was less true, as they were more relaxed now than he'd seen them since they'd arrived.

They took turns asking questions and George produced parchment to take notes of what Sirius was telling them and it suddenly occurred to Remus that the two had known Sirius would be in the kitchen, it had been his presence that had surprised them.

He wondered how often they found the dark-haired man in the kitchen late in the evening, because Sirius' reaction hadn't been one of surprise either and his friend's response had made it clear it was a regular occurrence.

From how easily the three communicated, he figured it had been often indeed as they were completely at ease with Sirius and seemed to enjoy both his presence and his company.

And suddenly he realised that that was why the two had sought Sirius out in the evening when everyone else had gone to bed.

Sirius was probably giving them more positive attention right now than their mother ever gave them and having met their mother and seeing first-hand all summer how she was treating the two, Remus couldn't blame them for seeking the company of Sirius.

His best friend was helping them with their homework; something that Remus could clearly see wasn't an one time occurrence either as he settled easily into explaining something out of a book Fred had produced out of nowhere.

Deciding to give the two some alone time with Sirius, as they had clearly been hoping for, he faked a huge yawn that caught their attention.

"I think I'm going to call it a night," he announced as he rose to his feet, squeezing Sirius' shoulder as his friend gave him a knowing smile, most likely seeing right through him.

"Good night, Remus," Fred and George chorused as Sirius reached up to give his hand a squeeze of his own in silent thanks.

"Sleep well, do you mind checking on Buckbeak to see if he's comfortable?"

"Of course. Don't make it too late," he advised as he cleaned the empty plates and cups away.

"We won't. We'll be out of his hair in time," George promised cryptically but although Remus wasn't sure what he meant, he decided not to ask and simply nodded.

Pausing at the door to glance back at the three who'd returned their attention to the assignment, he smiled and left them to it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: In honour of my little sister's twenty-sixth birthday, you guys are getting the chapter a day early :P

The events in this chapter take place after Nightly Conversations and A Not So Ordinary Day

chapter 3

After Harry's birthday party Remus waited in the library for Sirius to appear once everyone had gone to bed.

"Is he asleep?"

"Out like a light. I've set a ward to alert me should he wake up, but I'm hoping nightmares won't plague him for a change," Sirius closed the door behind him and Remus smiled at the outfit he still wore as the man placed a jar and a cage with a rat in it on the table.

He stepped forward to brush a hand over the faded red shirt. "I think we can call it a successful party, don't you?"

"There were a few tweaks, but overall I can't complain," Sirius agreed. "You think he truly enjoyed himself?"

"That he definitely did, it was nice that Moody joined for dinner, everyone enjoyed themselves," Remus laughed as he pulled Sirius into a hug. "You look good like this."

"So do you. Maybe we should look into getting some Muggle clothing when we go on holiday," Sirius returned his hug without hesitation and Remus smiled.

"That would be nice. So you are sure about taking Harry and me on a holiday for Christmas?" Remus asked once they separated.

"Yes, I don't care what Dumbledore might think once he finds out. Harry's only young once and he's never been on a vacation, so we're taking him."

"You don't think it will be too dangerous?"

"Quite frankly I think it will be a lot safer out of Britain than in it. Voldemort seems to be focusing his wrath here and if we'd be different people, I'd say we abandon the United Kingdom completely," Sirius admitted.

"But we're not. We are who we are so we can't simply get up and leave," Remus gave him a wry smile.

"No, we can't. Not for good anyway. But I am more than willing to abandon the Order for a few weeks in order to give us a break and Harry a holiday he'll never forget."

Nodding, Remus turned back to the table and eyed the jar.

"I figured you'd want to look into it before tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'd like to test my theory and see if we can truly do what we're hoping to accomplish before we involve Harry," Sirius nodded, using a cloth to remove the locket from the jar and place it on the table between them.

"Are you ready then?"

"Almost. I would first like to ask him a question about how this came to be here. Kreacher!"

There was a loud crack and the house-elf his friend hated so incredibly much appeared before them and Remus had to suppress his own revulsion at seeing the filthy creature.

"Master called," Kreacher croaked and he bowed low, muttering insults under his breath.

"Do keep your insults to yourself tonight, Kreacher, I don't want to see or hear anything. I've got a few questions for you and I want you to answer truthfully and without bending the truth, understood?"

"Yes, Master," Kreacher bowed again, his glare strengthening but no longer muttering under his breath.

"I want to know where you got this," Sirius indicated to the locket.

"I cannot tell you, Master. Young Master forbad me from telling anyone in the family."

Remus was surprised to see Kreacher glare at the locket even stronger than he'd ever done at Sirius and from Sirius' raised eyebrow, he hadn't missed it either.

"Regulus forbade you from telling anyone in the family?"

"Yes, Master."

"All right, then I order you to tell Remus here and answer any question he directs at you truthfully and completely. No lying and no withholding information and no hurting yourself without permission. That is a direct order."

The elf seemed to think this over before he nodded and turned to Remus, shooting him a disgusted glare, but Remus ignored it.

"Where did you get this locket?"

"It is Master Regulus' locket."

"Where did he get it?" Remus tried to remain patient.

"He stole it from the Dark Lord."

"He stole...tell us- me the complete story, Kreacher. And start at the beginning," Remus ordered him, feeling weird to do so but the elf immediately nodded.

"When Master Regulus was sixteen years old, he joined the Dark Lord. So proud and happy to serve his cause, making Mistress and Master happy. But one day, a year after he joined Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher and told Kreacher the Dark Lord required an elf."

Sirius and Remus shared a confused look but didn't interrupt.

"Master Regulus volunteered Kreacher, an honour he said it was, for Kreacher and Master Regulus. Told Kreacher to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do and then to come home."

A sob escaped Kreacher and Remus glanced at Sirius startled, but the other only indicated he should continue.

"So you went to see the Dark Lord?" the name fell off Remus' lips like a curse, but the elf didn't seem to notice as he nodded.

"Yes. The Dark Lord took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea and in the cavern was a great black lake and there was a boat that took Kreacher to an island," Kreacher's breathing hitched.

"There was a basin f-full of potion on the island that the Dark Lord made Kreacher drink..."

"Kreacher drank and he saw terrible things..." the elf trailed off, shooting a glance at Sirius as he trembled. "Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him but the Dark Lord only laughed. Kreacher had to drink all the potion and watched as the Dark Lord dropped a locket into the empty basin. He filled it with more potion and sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island."

"What happened then?" Remus was aware that Voldemort had left the elf to die, but still he couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for the despicable creature.

"Kreacher needed water and drank from the black lake. Dead hands came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under..."

"Inferi?" Sirius interrupted and Kreacher nodded, seemingly not thinking questions were part of his order not to tell.

"How did you escape?" a chill ran down Remus' spine at the thought of Inferi.

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," Kreacher answered and Sirius nodded in understanding.

"A house-elf will always follow their Master's order, if Regulus ordered you to come home, you would, like the good little rule follower you are," there was resentment in Sirius' voice but Remus couldn't blame him. He knew what that house-elf had happily done to Sirius when he was little, all under the order of his Masters.

"What happened when you got back here?"

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. Then one night Master Regulus came to see Kreacher in his cupboard, he was disturbed and asked Kreacher to take him to the cave."

"And he drank the potion and you took the locket?" a flash of sadness crossed Sirius' face as he seemed to come to understand something.

"Exchanged it," Kreacher answered, though he kept his gaze at Remus, telling his story solemnly to him so he would not break his order even though he knew Sirius was listening.

Remus looked at Sirius, not quite understanding what his friend had realised.

"Master Regulus had a locket similar to the one the Dark Lord had and he told Kreacher to take it and switch the lockets when the basin was empty," large tears poured down his ugly face as he spoke.

"Why didn't you take Regulus back with you?"Sirius' voice was soft and Remus turned to him surprised.

"Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to go home and never tell my Mistress what he had done. Kreacher watched Master Regulus drink the potion and watched as Master Regulus was dragged beneath the water..."

"And Regulus was killed because he ordered you to go home. The stupid fool," Sirius shook his head.

"Why didn't he take him with him?" Remus asked confused, horrified by what he was hearing.

"Because the idiot ordered Kreacher to leave without him. He gave you a direct order, didn't he?"

"Yes, Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to go home, destroy the locket and never tell anyone in the family what had happened."

"You didn't destroy it, though," Sirius commented, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly.

"Kreacher tried everything, but nothing would work. Kreacher knew for sure he had to get inside, but it would not open..." Kreacher cried out but Sirius' earlier order kept him in place and from hurting himself.

"Mistress was mad with grief because Master Regulus had disappeared, but Kreacher could not tell her what had happened..." Kreacher began to sob even harder and Sirius sighed.

"So Regulus changed his mind after joining and it got him killed. Why am I not surprised? Stupid fool never was the brightest," but he sounded resigned to Remus.

"I'm sorry about your brother," Remus rested a hand on Sirius' biceps.

"Regulus was merely a relative; he's never been my brother. That title belongs to you and James."

"I know, but I am still sorry. He died in a horrible way," Remus knew that Regulus hadn't held a large place in Sirius' heart, not like he and James did.

But Remus knew that despite everything that had happened, Sirius did care about his brother. And Remus had been aware that James had always been on the lookout in case the younger Black would be involved in a raid, but luckily none of their paths had ever crossed.

"It's no use dwelling on done deeds, Kreacher, when Voldemort summoned you, were there any items that caught you attention? Anything at all while you were with him?" Sirius turned to the house-elf again.

"Kreacher saw Lucius Malfoy was entrusted with a diary and Miss Bella with a golden cup."

That caught Remus' attention. "You think..."

"Do you know where that cup is now?"

"No, Master."

"It was worth a try," Sirius shrugged. "All right, Kreacher, we are set out to destroy what's hidden inside that locket. But to do so, we need to experiment a bit or we won't be able to destroy it for good. Are you going to help us without complaint, or am I going to have to ask Dobby?"

"Master will destroy locket?"

"Eventually, yes. But first I need to see if the thing inside can be relocated to another vessel."

"Kreacher wants to help," the house-elf immediately replied. "Kreacher tried everything...needs to destroy locket."

"According to our research, house-elf magic isn't like human magic and would be able to do things we can't do. I'd like you to try and move the thing inside the locket to this rat."

Sirius relocated the rat cage to the front of the table so that it was next to the locket and Kreacher nodded, a look of concentration falling over him.

Remus and Sirius both blinked as the pulsing darkness almost immediately shifted from the locket to the rat and after sharing a glance, Sirius reached out with his bandaged hand to touch the rat.

"It's gone, but I can touch the rat so we bypassed the protections on the locket," Sirius grinned as he ran a finger over the rat's back, pulling back in time not to get bitten.

"Shame letting Buckbeak eat it won't work," Remus commented, laughing as he was swatted at by Sirius.

"Do you want to give him indigestion? What's the poor fellow done to you?"

"All right, all right. We'll just use the spells we found. But more importantly than being able to relocate it into a living creature, can we do the same visa versa?"

"Let's find out. Kreacher, can you move it into that bottle?"

The moment the pulsing darkness shifted again, Sirius cast several diagnostic spells on the rat to check its health.

"She's perfectly fine," he declared and Remus breathed out relieved.

"You want to try and move it between two animals before going for the real deal?"

"I'd like to be safe and indeed test it out a little more, preferably upgrading to bigger animals and seeing if there's a difference before we involve Harry," he transfigured a quill into a bunny and had Kreacher repeat the progress.

It didn't take long before they had relocated the Horcrux between various animals, the biggest being an ape, before relocating it to the jar and they experimented with distance.

"All right, seems like that's not a problem. We'll need your help again tomorrow when we go for the real deal. Once we've succeeded in that, we can destroy the locket for good," Sirius directed to Kreacher, who nodded.

"Yes, Master. Kreacher looks forward to it."

"You are not allowed to communicate in any way with anyone about what you've learned tonight and what we were doing. No one, without my vocal permission given to you directly, is to learn anything about what Remus and I, or Harry discuss, either in your presence or out of it."

"Understood, Master," Kreacher bowed, his glare surprisingly much less present as he looked back up to Sirius.

"Good. Thank you for your help, go to bed. I'll call you tomorrow when we are ready to continue," Sirius dismissed the house-elf, who immediately obeyed with a small bow and left the library.

"He was...nicer than usual," Remus commented as Sirius picked up the bottle and placed it into a bigger box for safekeeping.

"I noticed. Doesn't mean I like him more though. But if I'm able to work with Snape for Harry's sake, I can work with Kreacher. I actually prefer Kreacher," he seemed surprised as he corrected himself and Remus snorted in amusement.

"I admit it is rather scary to see Kreacher listen to you without argument," Remus rubbed his nose. "So we know the relocating works, as well as over long distance and Kreacher doesn't even have to know where it is to do so."

"I wonder if it ever occurred to Voldemort just what house-elves are capable of," Sirius mused as he cast several protective spells on the box before placing it in a drawer with the locket and magically locking it.

"Probably not or he'd never have left Kreacher to die."

"Biggest mistake he ever made."

"Because Kreacher lived to tell the tale?" Remus asked curiously.

"No, because if anything, that would have been the last straw to turn Regulus against him. The idiot didn't have a lot of values, but he saw Kreacher as a valuable part of the family and cared for him deeply. It wouldn't sit well with him that his master left his loyal house-elf to die like that."

"I'm surprised he was able to tell the story to me while you were in the room and he knew you were listening," Remus commented.

"Not unless Regulus has specifically stated not to tell it to anyone in the family or them hearing it. It is easy for house-elves to find loopholes in orders if they want to. So if you truly want something done and don't fully trust the elf in question, then you need to be very clear and cover every angle possible to ensure there are no loopholes."

"Like how you phrased your order just now," Remus realised.

"Exactly. It's how I often got away. My father was horrible at phrasing orders so when he'd order to keep me bound, I could transform a quill into a pair of handcuffs or rope and tie my hands. That way I was technically bound and Kreacher would be unable to stop me from getting away as his orders had been to ensure I was bound, which I was."

"While I really dislike hearing that bastard ordered you to be tied up, I get your point," Remus rose to his feet as well. "So you want to get Harry involved tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I believe we are ready," Sirius nodded. "But I think it is time for bed now or we won't be worth anything tomorrow. Did you realise it is already past two in the morning?"

"No, I hadn't. You are right though, we should get some rest so we are alert tomorrow. We'll need it."

"We were right about the locket and the cup, though. And I think I might know where it is hidden, too."

"Where?" Remus asked surprised.

"Gringotts. It is the safest place there is and if he truly gave it to Bellatrix for safekeeping, what are the odds she'll keep it in the Lestrange vault?"

"We'll never get it if it's truly in there," Remus groaned.

"That is where you are wrong, my friend," Sirius grinned. "The Lestranges married into the Black family, making me their Head of House and since they are all rotting away in prison I'm in charge of their vault. I can send you as my representative to go see if the cup is indeed in there as I suspect."

"Seems like luck is at our side for a change," a grin spread over Remus' face, too, and Sirius nodded.

"I'd say it is about time. But let's first get some sleep and prepare for telling Harry what we've been up to."

Remus winced, having no idea how Harry would react to learning there was a Horcrux stuck in his forehead.


	4. Chapter 4

"So you are saying that I have a piece of Voldemort's soul stuck in my head?"

"In your scar, yes," Sirius nodded.

Remus shifted on his chair as Harry stared at Sirius blankly. "You are taking this surprisingly well."

"I'm still progressing it before I might freak out," Harry muttered, shifting uncomfortable on his own chair.

"Don't worry, we've been working on a solution since we found out," Sirius tried to reassure him and Harry's green eyes turned back to the man leaning against the table.

"Just how long have you known about this?"

"Since you told me about your scar hurting and the nightmare you described last summer."

"Why didn't you tell me?" There was a questioning note in his voice, but Remus was surprised there was no hint of being upset in his tone.

"Would you have wanted to know?"

"Yes! No...I ..." Harry trailed off, taking a moment to actually think it through. "No. I would have worried endlessly about it if I'd known before. But what made you decide not to tell me? You've never kept secrets from me before."

"I'm sure there are tons of things I haven't told you yet."

"Yet being the keyword there," Harry grumbled.

"Fair enough. I didn't tell you for two reasons. One; you would indeed be worried and distracted."

"And second?"

"Safety reasons. We know that you dream about things he does and can feel it whenever he is nearby or having strong emotions. Who knows what he can see through you," Sirius admitted honestly.

"He could be listening in right now!" Harry realised shocked.

"Not exactly. Sirius has been giving you Occlumency lessons and you are constantly shielding yourself. So you'd know if he were to try and break in," Remus shook his head.

"But I doubt he is aware I'm dreaming what he's seeing, either," Harry argued.

"He's not as far as we know, which is why we didn't tell you until we were absolutely sure we had a way to remove it," Sirius said.

"How?"

"We've experimented on relocating a Horcrux from one vessel to another last night and we are positive we can shift the one in your scar without harm coming to you."

"Another...just how many did he make?"

"We have reason to believe he's made seven in total. But to confirm it I will need to enter your mind with Legilimency and locate the essence of your Horcrux. I hope I'll be able to form a connection and confirm the others. If I succeed then I'd like to try and reach Nagini through your Horcrux."

"Why do you want to reach Nagini?" Harry asked curiously, leaning forward in his chair as Sirius spoke.

"To cast a couple of enchantments on her so Voldemort won't discover we've destroyed the Horcrux in her and he won't attempt to make new ones."

"Why doesn't he do that anyway?"

"He can't. A soul is meant to remain intact and splitting it damages it. The more he split it, the more damaged his soul became," Remus spoke up.

"He damaged his soul so badly that it became unstable and he knows he cannot really risk making another one with the way his soul is now. We think that is what has defeated him that night," Sirius took over when Remus turned to him. "We think his extremely unstable soul was torn into half the night he attacked your parents and you and his spell met your mother's sacrificial blood magic."

"So he didn't make one out of me on purpose?" The hopefulness in Harry's voice was hard to miss and Sirius shook his head.

"I doubt it. It would be stupid and risky to use a living creature as a vessel as they have a mind of their own and are hard to control. I think the only reason he is able to control Nagini the way he does is because he's a Parselmouth and snakes automatically listen to those."

"Do you think..." Harry trailed off, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Yes, I do. We know you aren't a Parselmouth from birth so I- we believe you gained the ability when the Horcrux nestled inside your scar," Sirius answered him.

"So I'll lose the ability when the Horcrux is removed?"

"Along with your nightmares, visions and pain in the scar, if our theory is correct," Remus smiled as Harry's face lit up at his godfather's words.

"So, what do you think? Are you willing to let us try and remove it?" Sirius placed a hand on his godson's and squeezed it.

"Yeah...I assume you can't simply destroy it while it's still inside of me?" Harry shifted nervously.

"No. There is a small chance that the destruction of the Horcrux will also destroy the vessel."

"Meaning that you would die," Remus finished what Sirius didn't say and Harry nodded in understanding.

"Which is not acceptable so we've come up with our current plan," Sirius said.

"And you're using Kreacher to relocate it, because..."

"Horcruxes are generally heavily warded. The locket we found yesterday burned my fingers at the mere touch, but that was nothing compared to what it might do when worn," Sirius answered.

"How are you going to relocate the Horcrux in Nagini if there's a chance she'd die and you don't want Voldemort to discover what you are up to?" Remus smiled proudly as Harry thought logically about what they had told him and had seen that little flaw.

"Kreacher can relocate Horcruxes from a distance, too. He just needs to be able to see or feel it. If I connect with the Horcrux in you and in turn the one in Nagini, then he'll automatically be connected too since he's bound to my magic and can relocate it without ever coming near her."

"All right, let's get on with it then," Harry took a deep breath before shifting so he sat side-ward on the chair, facing Sirius completely.

"If I'm hurting you, then you warn me immediately, all right?" Sirius gave Harry his free hand, smiling as the teen squeezed it nervously.

"I will, good luck," green eyes looked up into light grey ones and then neither of them moved any more as Sirius entered his mind.

Remus remained as quiet as he was, keeping an eye on Kreacher, who had been silent throughout the entire conversation and was now closing his eyes.

It didn't take long before Sirius pulled back, rubbing his temple and Harry blinked at the same time Remus sensed a new pulsing darkness in the rat cage beside him and he inched away from it automatically.

"It worked?" he asked just in case as Sirius pulled the second cage forward, the rat inside it twittering at him angrily, as if it knew what was going on.

"Yeah, I managed to reach the essence and connect with the other Horcruxes. We were right about all of them by the way, but even better, I know where all of them are hidden."

"And?"

"We were right about the cup and the diadem. The ring is located in the Gaunt's old house," Sirius grimaced. "It is under heavy protections, though."

"And Nagini?" Harry asked.

"I cast several spells on her, including a loyalty and obedience charm so she'll still obey Voldemort like she did before," Sirius turned to Harry. "Did you feel anything?"

"No, you didn't hurt me and I completely lost your presence when you connected with the Horcrux."

"That's good to hear. I'd like to remove the one in your scar to the second rat now."

"Go ahead," Harry closed his eyes, tightening his hold on his godfather's hand.

"Kreacher? Move the Horcrux from Harry to this rat like we've practised."

The house-elf nodded, Remus and Sirius holding their breath as a third pulsing darkness filled the room as it was relocated to the rat and Harry opened his eyes a crack after a few moments.

"My headache's gone."

"How are you feeling?" Remus cast the diagnostic spells on the two rats while Sirius fretted over Harry, both of them able to confirm they were fine.

"I have to admit that I was expecting more," Harry finally said as he pulled away from Sirius' embrace.

"I'm not complaining, but let me check just to be sure."

Remus sighed relieved as Sirius pulled back from Harry's mind mere moments later with a large grin splattered on his face.

"It's completely gone."

"That's great, but let's wait with the celebration until we've destroyed them, shall we?"

"Of course. Kreacher, move it from the rat to the old clock in the corner. We'll use that to destroy them all," Sirius ordered and moments later it was done.

"Brilliant, thank you for your help and the same order remains standing; you are not to communicate with anyone about what we were doing."

"Yes, Master."

"Good, you may return to what you were doing for now. I might call on you again in a little bit."

As the elf left Remus and Harry followed him to the large standing clock and watched as he placed the rat and the jar, both Horcruxes beside it.

"You may want to step back a little, because I don't know what will happen to the vessels when I cast this spell," Sirius warned them and Remus pulled Harry back a little.

"What happens when the Horcruxes are destroyed?" Harry asked, allowing Remus to pull him back.

"These assure his body can be destroyed, but he cannot be killed. With them gone, he will be mortal again and he can be killed in battle," Remus answered, keeping his voice down as Sirius began the extremely long and complicated curse that had goose bumps form on his arms.

"What's happening now?" Harry whispered so he wouldn't break Sirius' concentration.

"He had Kreacher move your Horcrux to this magical clock so he can use it as a conduct and destroy the other Horcruxes in a chain reaction. The other two Horcruxes will be a guidance to see if we succeeded..." he trailed off as all at once cold sweat ran down his spine and the dark pulses became stronger before abruptly vanishing.

"Was that..." he swallowed and as Harry looked up to them curiously and confused, he realised the teen hadn't felt that.

"Yes," Sirius knelt down at the cages. "The Horcruxes are destroyed and ...it looks like these fellows are none the worse for it."

"So we succeeded?" a slow grin spread over Harry's face.

"Seems like it, that eerie feeling was the same I felt when connection with the one that was in your scar," Sirius said.

"It just vanished though," Remus admitted. "Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy it was so easy, but I had expected more of a fight, somehow."

"It was rather easy," Harry nodded.

"Only because we sidestepped the most common destruction method," Sirius got to his feet again.

"What is the most common destruction method?"

"Facing the protections placed up and around it while trying to destroy it beyond repair," Remus smiled at Harry's wince. "Yeah, I don't look forward to that part either."

"Wait...you're still going to hunt down the Horcruxes?"

"Well, technically they are no more than vessels now, but yeah. We need to be a hundred percent sure they are truly destroyed and retrieve the items," Sirius smiled. "But without the Horcruxes there, we should be fine while dealing with the protections."

"Will you be careful?" Harry wrapped his arms around his godfather, holding him close for a long moment.

"Of course. We're not going to take any risks or endanger ourselves in any way, I promise," Sirius placed a kiss into Harry's hair and pulled him against him before moving back to the table.

"So, Nagini's taken care of, the Diary was already destroyed and we've destroyed the ones in Harry and the locket," he tipped three of the items off.

"That leaves the ring, cup and diadem," Remus nodded.

"And you discovered their locations while you were in my mind?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. The cup is at Gringotts so Remus will have to retrieve that and I'll need your help with the diadem," Sirius smiled. "It is hidden at Hogwarts so it'll have to wait until September, but I'd like you to retrieve it then."

"Of course, where is it hidden?"

"In the Room of Requirement. I've been told that you have to ask for the room in which everything is hidden and then ask to be directed to Rowena's diadem and the room will light the way. If it does not, then ask for the Grey Lady, she knows exactly where it is. Tell her I send you and that I intent to keep my promise and she will help you."

"You want me to send it to you with Dobby?" Harry asked, not asking how Sirius knew so sure the ghost of Ravenclaw would help him.

"That would be best. Remus and I will go after the ring together, from what I saw that one will be the most difficult to reach."

"Let's leave that one for last, I think we've done enough for today," Remus smiled. "You should go get some more rest while you still can, we woke you rather early."

"I'm happy you woke me up early for this," Harry grinned. "I'm headache free and from what you just told me, I'll be less nightmare prone and that stupid scar won't hurt any more. I think this is the best late birthday present I could have ever gotten!"

"We definitely need to spoil you more if that's true," but Sirius was smiling as he said it and ruffled Harry's hair as the teen gave him another hug. "I'm glad it worked."

"So am I, thank you, both of you," Harry grinned at Remus as he wrapped his arms around Sirius tightly.

"Anything for you, pup," Sirius dropped a kiss into his hair before pulling back. "But Remus is right; you should get some more sleep. It's six o'clock now so I'll make sure no one disturbs you before eleven."

"Yeah...I'll...can I return to your room?" Remus had to bit his lip to keep from laughing as Harry looked up to Sirius with big green eyes.

"Do you need to ask? I might even join you once I've handled the last few things here. But you should go back to sleep now."

"I will, good night," Remus smiled as godfather and godson exchanged one more hug and nodded as Harry smiled at him before hurrying off.

"You're not going to go back to bed yet?"

"In a bit, there's something I still have to take care of," Sirius picked up the locket.

"What are you going to do with that?" Remus asked as Sirius dangled it from his fingers.

"I promised Kreacher I'd destroy it but it is a useless piece of jewellery now. Nothing special about it any more."

"You're not going to destroy it?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, it is going to be destroyed, I just won't be the one to do it," Sirius smiled. "I might not like that house-elf, but he's been more than helpful in our quest so I figured he should do the honours and fulfil his last orders from Regulus."

"He'll appreciate that," Remus smiled, reaching forward to squeeze Sirius' biceps. "You're a good person, Siri."

"Why? Because I let a house-elf destroy a necklace?"

"No, because you are willing to put your personal opinions aside for what is right. Letting Kreacher destroy it is the right thing to do, even if you don't like the elf."

Remus smile grew as Sirius entwined their fingers together and squeezed. "Want to come with me so you can see his reaction?"

"I wouldn't want to miss it for the world."

And Remus was right as the filthy house-elf's eyes grew huge at Sirius' offering and the two Marauders stood to the side as Kreacher thoroughly destroyed the locket with tears streaming down his snout-like nose.


	5. Chapter 5

The events in this chapter take place before Taking Control.

In loving memory of James and Lily Potter, you guys are getting the final chapter earlier. Enjoy!

chapter 5

"Next time you can go retrieve something from your insane relatives' vault," Remus grumbled on a rainy afternoon as he dropped his bag onto the table and sat down heavily.

"What happened?" Sirius looked up from the book he was looking into, summoned the first aid kit and knelt down before him.

"She put protective spells on it, or better said, a Gemino and a Flagrante curse were placed on absolutely everything in that vault. Everything bloody multiplied when my shoe touched a coin, it was pure chaos."

"Are you all right?"

"It is mostly my dignity that was shot to hell," Remus sighed dramatically. "I got some burns on my arms and legs and my left leg is killing me."

"Take your trousers off so I can see what's wrong."

Obeying the order, Remus let Sirius tug off his shoes so that he could remove his trousers. "I'm getting old, Pads."

"You're not old, Moony. Just incredibly rusty," Sirius quickly inspected the damage, healing the burns before he slid his hands over Remus' painful leg to feel what was wrong there.

"There's a difference?" Remus groaned as Sirius dug his fingers into his calf, leaning back to give the dark-haired man better access when it turned into an impromptu massage.

"You should take it easy for a few days," Sirius commented once he smoothed out the tense muscles.

"Dumbledore wants me to infiltrate into a new pack."

"When does he want you to leave?" Sirius leaned back, not looking at him as he picked up his trousers so Remus could get dressed again.

"Tonight," Remus leaned back with a sigh once he'd pulled his trousers on again. "I'm not going."

"What? Why not?" Surprised Sirius looked up to him.

"I know how much you hate it when I go undercover like that."

"Because you are better than that. Dumbledore plays on your sense of duty to knowingly send you off into danger uselessly," Sirius spat. "I haven't forgotten what happened fifteen years ago."

Even after all this time, Remus had no trouble remembering the mission Dumbledore had send him off on, to infiltrate a pack of werewolves living deep in the woods of Scotland¹.

He had been there less than a minute before discovering that not only were these werewolves hostile, they were also extremely violent and hated anything to do with anyone outside their pack.

Remus had been completely outnumbered by maniacal werewolves and wouldn't have made it out alive if Sirius hadn't suddenly appeared out of nowhere, driving most of them off in mere moments, killing those who tried to attack them again.

He'd managed to get them to back off enough that he could make an illegal portkey to transport them to safety, saving Remus' life and healing his wounds before giving Dumbledore an earful about sending someone into a known hostile pack.

It turned out that Alice Longbottom had overheard where Remus was heading and Sirius, having heard plenty of rumours about the hostility of the pack, had gone after him immediately.

"I would have died if you hadn't come after me," Remus acknowledged softly.

"Yet you kept going, despite almost getting killed. Despite all that's happened, you kept going so what's different now?" Sirius asked.

"I'm different," Remus wet his lips. "Or rather, you opened my eyes."

"You don't want me to go on these pointless missions, and yes, I am aware they are pointless. And yet, a few weeks ago, I'd have gone without complaint," he held up his hand to stop his friend from speaking up. "But I realised something after you've beat Dumbledore up for placing Harry with the Dursleys."

"What's that?"

" That I'm done with his manipulations. Too long have I let him control my life, let him tell me what to do and following his orders without questioning them. I let that man take James and Lily's son and place him into an abusive household," Remus swallowed.

"I knew the Dursleys weren't good people, but I believed Dumbledore's judgement when he said Harry would be safe there and refrained from checking on him because he told me it would be confusing for the boy to see me."

He clenched his hands in his lap.

"I followed the man's every command because I trusted him; he'd given me the opportunity to go to Hogwarts, despite my condition. He gave me hope that I could be accepted. But that's not true; you and James were the ones who gave me hope. You were the ones who showed me that I had a family, a home in you guys," he shifted in his seat.

"It's true that I felt an obligation to listen to Dumbledore for what he's done for me and allowed him to order me to do things I didn't stand behind completely. I joined the Order because of that, because I wanted to fight for what was right, but mostly because it was Dumbledore who asked," he looked at Sirius, who was staring back at him non-judgemental and he couldn't help the small tug it gave his heart, knowing his friend wasn't judging him for simply following when he should have thought for himself.

"I listened to him when he told me you were the traitor, listened to what others told me and believed their judgement above my own. I knew you, Sirius. I knew you better than anyone and even if for some absurd reason you were with Voldemort, you would never let harm come to James, or Lily for that matter. I should have come to see you, demand answers but I didn't, because Dumbledore told me you were guilty and I simply believed his word."

"Moony..."

"No, please...I need to say this, Sirius," Remus slid down from his chair to kneel on the ground beside Sirius, taking his hand in his own.

"Dumbledore doesn't own me and my loyalty is not with him, it lies with you. I will not let others come between us anymore, and I will not betray your trust, ever again. I will not go on an useless mission when you need me."

"Rem, you don't owe me anything and I would never ask you to not do anything just because I don't like the idea," Sirius swallowed.

"I know," Remus smiled, squeezing his hand. "I am not going, not because you personally don't want me to go, but because you need me. We are on our own mission and can't waste either the time or the manpower on useless missions like guarding a Prophecy. What the two of us are doing right now has more effect in this war than anything Dumbledore wants us to do."

"Technically we are just checking former Horcruxes to assure ourselves they are truly gone," Sirius smiled faintly.

"Meaning that we've already destroyed them. Dumbledore has had years to deal with them. Even if he had been uncertain after Voldemort's first defeat, he'd have known after Harry destroyed the diary. Yet he didn't do anything and there is no excuse why he didn't. If we could figure them out as easily as we did, then he should have known, too."

"It's out of his hands now, Riddle is mortal so once we've checked the ring we can take the fight to him."

"Aren't you forgetting the diadem?" Remus frowned.

"Harry retrieved it from the Room of Requirement this morning and send it over with Dobby shortly after you left," Sirius rose to his feet to retrieve a box from the side table, retrieving the bag from the table on the way back.

Taking a deep breath, Remus watched as Sirius tested Hufflepuff's cup to ensure the Horcrux truly was destroyed, breathing out relieved as Sirius nodded.

"I already tested the diadem and removed the curses Riddle had placed on it," he held out the box for Remus to glance into. "Helena asked me to destroy it."

"She what?" Remus looked up sharply. "When did you speak to her?"

"The night Riddle was resurrected. She is the source who told me about the diadem being sought by Riddle and told me he'd defiled it with dark magic. She said she knew I was trying to remove the dark magic and asked me to destroy it so it could never be used for personal gain again."

"How did she know?" Remus was amazed to learn the normally elusive ghost had sought Sirius out for such a request.

"I asked Peeves to keep an eye out to what Riddle could have used and after swearing her to silence, he spoke to her about our quest. So she decided to come forward, remembering I'd always kept my word," Sirius shrugged. "Quite frankly I had expected her to turn me in when she arrived in the hospital wing, but she didn't seem to care that I was among the students."

"Is there any permanent resident of that castle who ever believed in your guilt?" Remus correctly deduced why she hadn't cared about his presence or alerted anyone in authority.

Sirius only gave him a small smile before lifting the diadem from its resting place.

"You want to destroy an heirloom from one of the founders?" Remus took the piece of jewellery from Sirius and looked at it.

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," he read as he turned it around in his hands, knowing it was the real thing. "I'm holding the lost diadem of Ravenclaw, sought by people for hundreds of years and my best friend wants to destroy it."

"About sums it up nicely," Sirius smiled, holding out the box so that Remus could return it.

"When are you going to destroy it?"

"Tonight. I've asked Dobby to pick me up during Hogwarts dinner and arranged to meet with Helena in the Room of Requirement so that she can witness the destruction."

"That way she'll know it is indeed destroyed and can witnesses it," Remus smiled. "You want me to join you?"

"Nah, I should be back in less than an hour."

"I'll just start our dinner while you are gone then. So, we indeed just need to check the ring. When did you want to do that?"

"Early tomorrow morning. I'm not expecting any Order members, but Dobby's agreed to come over and keep an eye out if someone should unexpectedly arrive just in case. He'll come get us if someone enters, telling them I'm asleep with a hangover while you weren't feeling well and stayed in bed."

"And Kreacher won't give us away?"

"I've ordered Kreacher to remain in his bed and not to have any form of communication with anyone until I come out of my bedroom again. He is not to give anyone any sort of information about my whereabouts outside confirming Dobby's story."

"That should cover it nicely," Remus followed Sirius into the kitchen, watching him make tea for them.

Xxxxxxx

Remus shifted his weight as he crouched behind a bush not too far from the Gaunt's last known residence, the one near the graveyard where Voldemort had been resurrected.

The place gave Remus the creeps, so he was relieved to see the familiar shaggy form of Padfoot appear through the rotting fence, carrying what looked like a golden box in his mouth.

"And?"

"It looks like several traps are laid out," Sirius said once he'd transformed back and had dropped the box.

"Will they be a problem?" Remus asked, rising to his feet as Sirius made no attempt to conceal their presence.

"Not anymore. The moron set them all up for human presences so I could bypass them completely as Padfoot. He hid it beneath the floorboard; I didn't even have to dig to be able to pull it out as they were far into a state of rotting. I'm not sure about the ring itself though; I could smell a dark curse on it but didn't recognise it."

"You already got the ring?" Remus looked at the golden box surprised. "Why wouldn't he take into account Animagi?"

"Probably because he set the protections up before considering there might be illegal ones running around?" Sirius shrugged as he picked up the box. "Let's move away from here so we don't accidentally set off any protections so close to the house and alert Voldemort to what we're doing."

Nodding Remus followed him as they walked into the woods near the rotting shack and stopped in a small clearing.

"What do you think we can expect?" Remus asked as Sirius placed the box onto the ground between them and used a large branch to open it, revealing it to be empty except for the crudely made golden ring with a large black stone set in it.

"Is that..." Sirius blinked surprised and Remus could only stare at the engraving in the black stone as he immediately recognised it as the sign of the Deathly Hallows.

"He used the Resurrection Stone as a Horcrux?" Sirius asked in disbelief, kneeling down beside it to poke it with the branch, sliding it into the ring to lift it up so he wouldn't have to touch it.

But the moment he did, the tip of the branch immediately blackened and Sirius dropped it before it could spread.

"Definitely cursed," he acknowledged as he reached for his wand.

"Can you undo the curse placed upon it?"

"No problem now that I've seen what is it. I don't remember the name, but it is a curse that's, ironically, invented by Herpo the Foul. It has a similar effect as the bite from a Bothrops asper. I remember that much because the spell is in one of the books we researched from and the picture was horrifying," Sirius shuddered.

"So you don't remember the curse, but you do remember the counter-curse?"Amused Remus looked up from the box to see his best friend shrug.

"Seemed more important to know," Sirius was quick to murmur the incantation before he picked up a new branch to test if the curse was truly broken.

Seeing that it was, he cast a couple other spells to ensure there were no other curses placed on it before separating the stone from the ring with magic.

Remus caught it as it came loose and placed it in Sirius' open hand, both of them staring at it as the ring lay forgotten on the ground.

"I have to admit that I did not see this coming," he swallowed thickly.

"No," Sirius' voice was tight as he stared at the stone as if in trance.

"Do you..."uncertain, Remus reached out to slip his hand into Sirius' free one, needing the anchor as he too seemed unable to look away from the stone.

"It wouldn't be them," Sirius exhaled shakily. "It wouldn't be him, not really."

"Wouldn't it be?" Remus asked breathlessly, a dull throbbing behind his eyes trying to make itself known but he ignored it.

"You remember the story, don't you?" Sirius whispered, his voice trembling.

"She was unhappy because she no longer belonged in his world," now that Sirius had reminded him, Remus indeed remembered the complete story and his heart clenched.

If he had the screaming desire to turn that stone, despite knowing the story, then it must be close to irresistible to the man beside him and from the tight hold Sirius had on his hand, he knew his best friend was well aware of it, too.

"Do you think he's happy?" Sirius' voice was small as he asked the almost childish question, a whirlpool of emotions racing through his bright eyes.

"I like to believe so," Remus was aware that the voice answering his best friend was hardly his own and he cleared his throat to try and remove the stranger from his vocal cords.

Grey eyes, filled with unshed tears, glanced at him for a long moment before they turned to the stone, his thumb sliding over it and Remus wondered what the younger man was thinking when Sirius suddenly tossed the stone into the air.

" _Expulsio."_

Remus' heart gave a painful tug as the spell hit the stone head on and it exploded into a rain of powder before them.

He became aware tears were running down his cheeks when Sirius pulled him into a hug.

"It wouldn't be them. They are gone and some stupid stone isn't going to bring them back," Sirius' voice murmured in his ear and he dipped his head so that he could bury his face into his best friend's shoulder, gripping Sirius tightly in return.

They stood there for a long time, neither speaking or willing to break the embrace as they grieved together for the family they'd lost.

Eventually it was Remus who pulled back. "You just destroyed a Deathly Hallow."

"It deserved it," Sirius gave him a half smile. "And technically you destroyed one too."

"What?" confused Remus watched as Sirius destroyed the ring, too.

"You destroyed the Elder Wand."

"When did I do that?" stepping back to Sirius' side, Remus made quick work of destroying the box the ring had been in.

"Remember when we hexed the hell out of Dumbledore and you broke his wand in multiple pieces when he raised it at me?"

"That wasn't..."

"It was," the half smile spread into a full one, lifting the sadness in those warm grey eyes a little at Remus' no doubt dumbfound expression and Remus couldn't help but return it, letting it spread until he was grinning.

"We destroyed two Deathly Hallows."

"Yeah well, they had it coming to them. Shouldn't have let their paths cross with two Marauders."

"All those who've been hunting them down will forever curse us if they should find out. Hundreds of people have been searching for them and we come across two of them by chance."

"Harry's got the third one so technically the two of us have seen them all," Sirius winked.

"And destroyed them. Just how many precious heirlooms have we destroyed on this mission?"

"Only two. Helena decided to keep the diadem intact, remember?"

"I remember," Remus smiled. He'd been extremely happy when Sirius returned from Hogwarts the previous evening to announce Helena Ravenclaw had changed her mind.

Sirius had told him that once Voldemort was defeated, she would like him to ensure the priceless relic would get a proper place where it could be seen, but not abused and he'd do the same with Hufflepuff's cup.

Until that time, both items were safely and securely locked up in Grimmauld Place where no one would be able to find them.

"Doesn't change the fact that in less than two months, we've managed to find three priceless heirlooms of the founders and the two legendary Hallows. All of whom have been sought for many years."

"I suppose we could always become trackers of lost stuff if everything else fails."

They shared a glance before they were suddenly both laughing with new tears falling down.

"We're a fine broken mess, aren't we?" Sirius chuckled as he brushed away his tears.

"We are. But you know what?" Remus reached for his hand again. "At least we are a broken mess together."

Sirius smiled as he entwined their fingers. "Or we simply fill each other's cracks. Do you remember what James always said?"

"He's the brains, you're the executor, I'm the muscle and..." Remus trailed off as the smile left his face.

"And Peter's the one who distracts. Wormtail was the one who betrayed us and the Peter we knew died."

Remus let Sirius' words sink in for a moment.

"I know it probably sounds weird, but I kind of like that thought," he admitted, squeezing Sirius' hand. "That it wasn't all a lie but that our friend just died when the traitor rose."

"It's something Harry said when I asked why he only referred to him as Wormtail. I liked the thought too."

"He's a pretty smart kid when he wants to be."

"When those friends of his don't hold him down," Suddenly Sirius smiled at him. "Harry's kind of the glue, holding the broken pieces we are intact, isn't he?"

"And together we're whole," Remus returned the smile.

"Broken when we're apart, but complete when we're together. I like that," Sirius mused and Remus hummed as they walked back out of the forest.

"You know, we finished our quest today. That was the last one we had to check."

"Mission accomplished," Sirius grinned before his smile changed into the warm one that always made Remus want to stop time so he see it on his friend's face forever.

"Let's return to Grimmauld Place, I'm sure Harry will be waiting anxiously for you to write to him."

"We can play a board game in celebration once I've send Harry a message," Sirius suggested before frowning. "It will be pretty boring now that we've completed our task."

"Siri, when you are involved, nothing is ever boring," Remus laughed as Sirius stuck out his tongue at him and he tightened his hold on his best friend so that Sirius could Apparate them back to Grimmauld Place.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

¹ the events mentioned here take place in A Dangerous Mission.


End file.
